Order New Mom Comics: The First Year book!

$15

New Mom Comics: The First Year is a compilation of a year of comics drawn by Alison Wong about the adventures of being a new mom. It's a humorous guide on what to expect that first year, perfect for new or experienced parents alike.

"I created this series because it’s what I wished I had during the first year – it's like a friend to tell you how it really is, with humor and love, and not fear and worry! My husband and I always try to look for the humor in each day, even in tough parenting moments, as it helps us laugh and remember them so fondly."

The book is 120 pages paperback, with some color. $5 shipping & handling for US orders. International shipping varies.

Some samples from the book!

Background

Alison and her family live in the Bay Area and she's been drawing since she was a child. She drew a few comic strips throughout her high school and college years, but New Mom Comics struck a chord as her little guy generates an endless amount of funny content. Alison started drawing comics as a visual diary, but realized that most new moms were going through the same issues and she wanted to share them so they didn't feel alone. Also, time really flies as fast as people say, and drawing these comics paused time just a little.

The Process

Each comic takes hours to create, and below shows a little about the process. The idea starts out on a phone notepad, then is sketched on a tablet, and using many layers, is redrawn and improved as many as 10 times. Sometimes the draft sits for a day or two and Alison often gets feedback and iterates. This book contains 55+ comics with some extra comic color spreads not on this website.

In this example, I wanted to emphasize sudden and extreme worry that comes with phantom cries - but then wanted an abrupt 180, because baby was actually still asleep. Repeating the third panel achieved what I wanted. I also changed the shower exit direction so that everything flowed to the right. I do this process for most of my comics. I liken it to condensing a long presentation down to summary bullets, it's hard but rewarding when it works!

As for the process of creating the book, the book went through multiple rounds of editing, you can see some prototyping and proof shots here!

To figure out the comic order, I printed them all out and rearranged them here.

various early drafts

printer proofs sent to be to check color and paper type

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